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Open EQUELLA is a digital repository that provides a single platform to house teaching/learning, research, media, and library content.

Open EQUELLA has been deployed for copyright resource collections; research materials; managing and exposing materials through websites and portals; content authoring; workflow; institutional policy; and organizational resources. Open EQUELLA is currently in use in a wide range of schools, universities, colleges, TAFEs, departments of education, government agencies, and corporations worldwide.

Open EQUELLA is a digital repository that provides a single platform to house teaching/learning, research, media, and library content.

Open EQUELLA has been deployed for copyright resource collections; research materials; managing and exposing materials through websites and portals; content authoring; workflow; institutional policy; and organizational resources. Open EQUELLA is currently in use in a wide range of schools, universities, colleges, TAFEs, departments of education, government agencies, and corporations worldwide.

With over 15 years of history, Open EQUELLA is a mature solution written for the Java platform.

Open EQUELLA Features

Open EQUELLA features include:

Collections with customized data entry wizards

Every collection has a data entry wizard that you can use to create and edit items in that collection. The wizard has a fair amount of control over how the item is displayed, and how the item is presented when in create / edit mode. The wizard also provides placeholders for scripts to test data and drive the data input flow, as well as scripts that are run when the item is saved or a new version is created.

Flexible XML-based metadata schemas

Open EQUELLA uses the concept of a schema to define the structure of a collection. In turn a collection is a template for an item. An item is the object that stores metadata and attachments (files, links, etc) together to create a logical grouping. The schema is XML based, and highly configurable. Nested XML nodes are allowed to enable repeaters / groups of metadata / attachments, and each node has the option to be indexable for Advanced Searching and Freetext searching. The schema can be associated to import and export transformations to migrate data from various sources to fit the needs of the institution.

Basic or complex scripted workflows

Open EQUELLA enables the concept of a moderated workflow against items. Workflow is highly customizable, and includes decision points, parallel steps, sequential steps, and of course, workflow tasks which can be assigned to one or more moderators. Workflow provides script handles as an item moves through the workflow, static or dynamic association of moderators, and reminder notifications if an item is aging in a workflow task.

Full document versioning

Open EQUELLA supports creating new versions of items, and management of the version lifecycle.

Simple to full metadata-based searching

Open EQUELLA utilizes the Lucene search engine and customizable indexed metadata fields for the basis of search. Any custom xml schema node can be searched, either as a freetext/keyword or targeted metadata nodes. Targeted metadata node searches can be presented to the user as a form to fill out or directly searched via the REST API.

Storage of resources in a personal area

Open EQUELLA provides a specialized collection that is presented as a personal sandbox to place a user's documents and authored web pages that are not yet ready for the Open EQUELLA user base.

On-the-fly creation of web pages

Open EQUELLA provides a rich text editor (TinyMCE) for users to author web pages directly in Open EQUELLA and then place them into Open EQUELLA items as attachments.

Copyright management of activated items

Open EQUELLA can manage CLA (UK) and CAL (AU) copyright items, including 'activating' portions of an item's attachments for the end user to use/view, and then track the activation history.

Attribution of digital rights to content

Open EQUELLA offers a collection of items to be covered by a configurable DRM scheme. Configurations includes type (basic usage, use and adapt, custom permissions), acceptance of custom terms, access restriction to a particular set of users / groups / roles, and selecting the number of accepted licenses.

Active user-based notifications

Users can be notified of various events inside of Open EQUELLA including Items in workflow ready for to be moderated, items becoming live, and bad URLs.

Attachment MIME type definition

Based on the MIME type of attachments; Open EQUELLA can be configured to change the display, attachment viewer type, and HTML editor embedded templates.

Automatic creation of thumbnails for uploaded images, PDFs, and videos

Open EQUELLA utilizes the 3rd party tools of ImageMagick, Ghostscript, and LibAV to automatically generate thumbnails from a variety of image formats, PDFs, and video formats.

Selection of taxonomy terms from Open EQUELLA or an SQL data source

Open EQUELLA item metadata can be configured to consist of term(s) from a taxonomy. Taxonomies can be either locally defined in Open EQUELLA or pulled from an SQL database. Locally defined taxonomies can be configured to add new terms via on the fly.

Searching of external data remote repositories

Open EQUELLA enables users to search remote repositories from the native search UX. The search results can then be imported into the Open EQUELLA institution based on a configured collection and transform.

Flexible editing of permissions for all facets of the application

Permissions are configured in Open EQUELLA as Access Control Lists (ACLs). ACLs on application facets are configured for users, groups, roles, or globally. Examples of these facets include:

Editing an item

Searching a collection

Accessing the admin settings for OAuth

Uploading a report

Multi-language configuration and display customization

Besides the wizards that customize how the data is displayed, Open EQUELLA also enables multi-language support for the broader web application, and customization of the Cascading Style Sheets / JavaScript theme files to allow a variety of different Look and Feels to the application.

Extensive support for many well-known standards

Seamless integration with a variety of third-party systems

Open EQUELLA has LMS integration via shared secrets, OAuth, and LTI. Open EQUELLA content and search / selection can be integrated into Moodle and Blackboard with custom blocks. Open EQUELLA supports a general LTI provider endpoint for other LMS / tools. Open EQUELLA has configurable integration with CAS, Echo360, Google Analytics, and others.

Open EQUELLA has the ability to pull in items from third-party sources, including other E instances, by using EQUELLA’s harvesting tool and upload them automatically to the Open EQUELLA repository. Content can be obtained from The Learning Federation using the LORAX protocol, while content from other institutions can be gathered with the OAI (Open Archives Initiative) metadata harvesting protocol.

Conversely, content contained in Open EQUELLA can also be accessed by using the OAI protocol.

Admin consoles for configuration and management of the Open EQUELLA instance.

Open EQUELLA offers three primary points of configurations - the Server Admin pages for global Open EQUELLA settings, the Settings page for institution settings via a web page, and the Admin Console for institution settings via a Java Web Start application. The Admin Console provides a great deal of configuration and customization - from collection wizards and taxonomies, to reports and workflows.

Flexible server configuration

Open EQUELLA can run in a number of different server configurations. The application runs on an embedded Tomcat server, and can cluster with other Open EQUELLA server nodes via Zookeeper. While not specifically Open EQUELLA, Zookeeper can be run either in standalone or 'quorum' (clustered) mode to increase it's recovery abilities. Open EQUELLA server configuration includes configuration handles for Tomcat to listen on AJP, HTTP, or HTTPS ports, the ability to run behind a reverse or forward proxy, and the ability to customize the names of Open EQUELLA nodes in a cluster.

APIs

Open EQUELLA has a set of REST APIs to enable more customized control of Open EQUELLA facets such as Collections, Files, Browse Hierarchies, Items, Search, Taxonomies, and User Management.

Open EQUELLA Environment Requirements

Open EQUELLA is a J2EE application. The Administration Console is a lightweight Java Web Start application that is fully browser compliant. Optional features of the File Manager and In-Place File Editor are Java Applets (that can be run in IE and earlier versions of Firefox).

If not, please submit a new ticket (this requires an account in the ticketing system).

Alternately, you may submit concerns, bugs, and requests for features to the EQUELLA Aperero Google Group. Subscribe by sending an e-mail to equella-users+subscribe[at]apereo.org

Open EQUELLA Development and Roadmap

Open EQUELLA Milestones

The Open EQUELLA Milestone are found in Github (see also our timeline and list of tickets).

How to Contribute

Perhaps the easiest way to contribute is to download and install the code, join the Open EQUELLA Google Group and the Apereo Open EQUELLA slack channel (apereo.slack.com), and share your experiences (good or bad) using Open EQUELLA along with your ideas as to how it can be improved. You can also use the bug tracking system and contribute your ideas there.

At the next level, you can contribute code in the form of bug fix solutions, enhancements, or skins. If you wish to contribute to Open EQUELLA itself, you should first subscribe to the Open EQUELLA Google Group as outlined above and discuss your contributions with the other developers. You will also need to sign a Contributor License Agreement.

Open EQUELLA Documentation

Documentation can be found here for the open source version of Open EQUELLA. Documentation covers the following topics:

Open EQUELLA Contributors

The following organizations and individuals have contributed to Open EQUELLA through direct involvement with the project, through code contributions, or documentation and support. The original Open EQUELLA codebase was contributed by Pearson, Inc. Additional changes and enhancements have been added by the organizations and individuals below:

Open EQUELLA Support

Open EQUELLA is open source software supported primarily by an open and friendly community. Our premier support channel is community discussion mediated primarily via Mailing Lists.

Free Support

Please take the following steps to obtain support from the Open EQUELLA user community.

Search Archives

The Open EQUELLA Google Group holds the community discussion forums and provides a search interface for discussion archives. Your question may have been previously asked and answered. Please search the archives before posting to the community discussion forum. Subscribe by sending an e-mail to equella-users+subscribe[at]apereo.org

Chat Room

The Open EQUELLA community chat room is hosted as the #Equella channel within the Slack. To join, access apereo.slack.com.

Mailing Lists

The Open EQUELLA community discussion mailing list is a moderate traffic list where questions are typically answered within minutes and usually resolved within a couple days. Open EQUELLA developers monitor the list and frequently participate in discussion. Subscribe by sending a mail to equella-users+subscribe[at]apereo.org

Community Etiquette

Remember that activity on the mailing lists and all other support channels is entirely voluntary. There are no SLAs. There are no guarantees. You may opt into professional support agreements with Apereo commercial service providers for additional technical support.

Paid Support

Edalex Solutions is an educational services company supporting educational institutions across Australia and New Zealand, with a mission of “Helping put innovation into education.” With nearly 150 years combined Open EQUELLA experience, core services include: account management, professional services (consulting and training), hosting, software development (integrations, custom software), and client support.

Unicon is a leading provider of technology consulting, services, and support for the education industry. Institutions and corporations leverage Unicon’s domain expertise across numerous disciplines, including identity and access management (IAM), learning analytics/student success, standards-based integration, portals, content lifecycle, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). Unicon’s depth of experience in designing, building, integrating, operating, and supporting learning, assessment, and institutional systems ensures the right skills and technologies are applied to every engagement.